Loaches Online Forum

.........and got a new home

While I was over in England, I bought two great big coarse sponges that have a hollow tube cut up inside them. They're like giant, square section versions of the sponges I've always used on my river-Tank manifolds. Those were 4" dia by 4" high. These puppies are 4" square by 12" high! I figure they'll reduce the actual surface suction strength by dissipating the suction over a much wider area. Also, it will give a huge bacteria bed for biological filtration.

So a larger internal support tube was needed. Made this up this morning. Man!....you'd never believe how much PVC swarf this created.

The clear rings help grip the sponge.

It looks like this in the tank:



This River-tank manifold was used in a smaller tank, so needed extending.
Instead of getting more PVC glue fit T's and extenders, I plumped for some flexi hose and these barbed T-pieces. I added the cross-bar that was never there before as it makes securing the sytem down a lot easier (heavy rock on top).



All looks like this:



Here's the monster sponge in place:



Threw in some previously used sand.....added a bit of gravel at the intake end because I didn't have enough sand. I've never used sand in a R/T before, so figured I would put the gravel where water flow might move sand:



Put lots of decor from the Sewellia's tank into this one and half-filled it with their tank's water. Pumped some more from the Clown tank and then topped up with fresh. Added the existing 3 small HOB filters and lighting, plus the Aquaclear 802 powerhead and a couple of mini-pumps near the surface:



There's a ceramic airstone and an air feed that's needed now (never needed it before in the shallower tank) to power the venturi on the powerhead. LOTS of aeration!



I caught the fish very easily in 4" of water. Sewellia are actually a lot easier to catch than Gastromyzon. Carried them to this tank in a plastic food container and slid them in. Do they like their new home?

Seems so.....they hid for a bit, but are now getting lively. I saw two actually fighting which I've never seen before. Rapid circling and "topping" going on, sand flying, just like in Emma's photos. Of course, they ran off when I got my camera, but I did get this shot:



Settled down a bit:



Then went climbing:





If nothing else, this new tank setup affords me new photography opportunities. It's easier to photograph them in a 12" wide tank rather than an 18" wide Breeder tank.

Hopefully this becomes a real breeder tank.

The tank is also in my lounge, so I can sit in comfort and watch their antics.

Martin.

Very nice!! I like the idea of the big sponge in the back. It actually blends in well. I can see that becoming a grazing area for the fish. I also like the idea of the use of flex tubing and barbed T's. Very clever and convenient.
The sewellia certainly look happy. I have a feeling there may be some tiny sewellia in your future.

Looking very nice there Martin, that is one serious sponge!

How much volume have you lost now that the second tank has been taken out of the equation?

May the little shufflebums grace your home soon ;-)

I'm sure the Sewellia are very pleased with their lovely new home.

I see the big tub of JMC catfish pellets in view - I have been meaning to ask what your fish made of them, seeing as ours love them so much.

Emma

I don't get the cross bar in your manifold that is perpendicular to the intake pipes. Is that just for stability?

Yep! Quite a sponge

I did some calculations:

(all dimensions in inches)

The tank they were in was 29L x 18W x 12D = 27.1168 USG

The adjacent tank was ......20L x 10W x 12D = 10.3896 USG

..........................................TOTAL VOLUME = 37.5064 USG


The new tank is..................36L x 12W x 20H = 37.4026 USG

Lost Volume................................................ = 0.1038 USG

So taking into account decor, etc, the loss is negligible and it does consolidate the whole system and move it into my lounge where I can better enjoy the fish.

One advantage of the reduction in width of the tank is there's more water movement, plus I have the ability to add another powerhead.

I put in the top of an old Fluval 4, in addition to the 802, but it's been temperemental before and the ceramic spindle shaft broke shortly after I fired it up this time. The original was steel. I'll probably just get another 802 or whatever they're calling them this week




Hmmmmm....looks a bit like a Graeme photo with the sand

Flash.

No flash.

Martin.

Looks very nice

How many?
Only Sewellia or something else too? No dither at all?

Mark in Vancouver wrote:I don't get the cross bar in your manifold that is perpendicular to the intake pipes. Is that just for stability?

You didn't read the first post properly did you? It's mainly there to act as an anchor. I seem to recall this was the second manifold I ever made and I made the mistake of making it 2 intake, 2 outlet with no central longitudal tube, unlike the first one. I found it could be really difficult to secure it properly under the substrate. There's nowhere for a hefty rock to sit and anchor it.

As I needed to extend this, and it's made of British components that are slightly incompatible with available similar glue-weld type plumbing fittings in Canada, I decided to go the barbed-T route and get myself a central anchor point. Another slight side-effect will be that of having a central balance pipe for the water in the manifold.

Martin.

mikev wrote:Looks very nice

How many?
Only Sewellia or something else too? No dither at all?

Thanks Mike. There's 5 of them. Definitely one male, so the possibility of breeding is there. No dithers because most suitable fish will also be quite efficient fry predators and I want everything going for me in that respect.

My name in its true German pronounciation sounds like Turner. I'm playing catch-up with the real Turner on here

Martin.

You seem to be coming with better and better designs every time....

Definitely one male --- this makes me very envious. This means you have four females? I wish....


BTW, it was the absense of the cross-connection that killed my attempt of the manifold last time -- simply could not fit and stabilize it. Ended up with using a combo of a powerhead and a powerful cylinder filter -- so the tank flow is unidirectional, but the flow is not as good as in your tanks, and of course the cost is much higher. Next time, I'll do better.

Q: what about Beaufortia's or Gastro's in the same tank? Do you feel they may be risky too?

Q: what about Beaufortia's or Gastro's in the same tank? Do you feel they may be risky too?

Absolutely no risk I think. For now, I'm going to keep them seperate, but I have considered that if nothing happens I might add some sex-crazed Pseudogastromyzon cheni because hormones they produce in the water might just make a difference.

Emma has Beaufortia in with hers, plus the big spotted Sewellia species.

There's definitely one male...that's him in the last two pictures above.

Martin.

The addition of some chenis certainly might help. Many times, when my chenis spawn, the male white cheeked goby gets rather excited. I suspect that might be what triggered that species to spawn too.

After seeing the large sponge and intake, I'm wondering if you the smaller sponge filter toward the front of the tank couldn't be eliminated altogether and open up some space.

If I add the other powerhead Jim, removing the small sponge would mean two suction devices trying to pull all their water from one source. It all hangs on the pipe size at the bottom of the sponge. By using a large surface area sponge, it will reduce the draw at any given point (ideal if fry are around) but it all still goes down the same 3/4" ID pipe.

The manifold is set up for two intakes and two pump ports, so I would rather use it like that.

By the way....the fish have been going absolutely nuts in there. Lots of serious zipping about and chasing going on. It doesn't exactly look like territorial or one-upmanship stuff either. More following around, but at higher speed than courting P. cheni would do.

Or am I seeing what I want to see?

Like that last picture? I think it's cool. I put it in the Profile.

Martin.

Emma Turner wrote:I'm sure the Sewellia are very pleased with their lovely new home.

I see the big tub of JMC catfish pellets in view - I have been meaning to ask what your fish made of them, seeing as ours love them so much.

Emma

They're going nuts so far!

Thought you'd spot the JMC tub The Clowns have had it before (remember a bunch of them emigrated with me), and I also bought over a tub of JMC Catfish Pellets at that time.

Actually, everything likes them. The Royal Panaque would probably eat the whole tub if he could. The Redpoint Convicts love them too. I'm wondering if their fabulous colour is a result of the JMC's and/or the Hikari Cichlid Gold they're getting?

The Hillstreams all like them, as do the Sinobotia pulchra in the 65 River-Tank. Funnily enough, the Garra sometimes leave some of the pellets???

Martin.

Good luck, Martin. Heheh. Oh, and please put me first on your list for baby sewellia when u get some.

Mike